to wonder if there is a mimum standard of housework to be done each day

[ben10isgr8]

I am just being nosey really .

I am aware everyone has different time, responsibilities, capabilities etc but is there a generally agreed minimum expectation of what should be done daily?

I have ds (3yr 6mo)and dd (15mo) DH works m-f 06:30 till 19:00 and I work one 13hr shift at the weekend.

For various reasons I like my house to be tidy...I don't mean totally gleaming palace like...just tidy!.

Every day I get up tidy the beds and see to the childrens breakfast, get them washed and dressed then leave them playing about while I empty/fill the dishwasher, (just got one and I am very overexcited about it so had to fit it in somewhere)sort washing, read mail and watch The Wright Stuff

By the time that is done, (with stops to sort out squabbles, get toys, wipe noses, change poo nappies etc) It is time to make lunch 11:00 so they are fed and tidied again by 12:00 ready to take ds to nursery at 12:30.

Then it's home to settle dd for nap and I get my lunch then spend the 1 hr remaining before I wake dd up to collect ds watching CSI/ reading a book/ going on MN or something I want to do

After school activity depends on what needs done, e.g shopping, tidy the house, change beds, updating a topic on MN . The kids have a snack then play outside/ do arts and crafts etc while I get stuff done.

At 17:00ish I cook our dinner and they play while I sort the kitchen and cook dh dinner. When dh comes home he plays with the kids then has dinner and catches up with email while I tidy the toys and get the kids ready for bed.

20:00 the kids go to bed and I load the dishwasher, tidy the books, clothes etc then we sit with a cuppa T and catch up.

Cleaning wise I spend my days keeping on top of things so the house stays relatively tidy and over two afternoons I do a full clean: dusting cellings and skirtings, washing fingerprints off doors, (lot's of glass doors) and windows, change beds, thorough bathroom clean, brush and wash floors.

This week I haven't been feeling well, (bad cold) so haven't bothered with the big clean and holy crap my floors look minging, (which makes my house look dirty despite the frequent tidying), and I feel really guilty...and feel guilty for feeling guilty.

Do you try for a daily minimum or just go with the flow? Am I a crazy ott person or just average? and Why do I feel so guilty when my house isn't clean?

I suppose I'm fortunate that DS (1.5yo) is quite happy to bumble around the house playing* on his own for a reasonable length of time. Also we live in a tiny terrace, so I can hear if not see him at all times; this means that if I am washing up in the kitchen, I can tell pretty accurately what he is doing in the living room or study (one advantage of having a toddler with no volume control ).

I would happily vacuum every day to keep on top of cat hair and toddler crumbs, but he's scared of the vacuum and I'm too soft to see his little face crumble when I turn it on On the other hand he will gladly join me in sweeping up, washing up non-breakable items in his own bowl of water or sitting in the bathroom reading books while I fold laundry.

*playing likely to involve running around, yelling, chatting to himself, pulling books off shelves, having a hallway kickabout and other miscellanous noisy pursuits.

I feel I should hoover daily - I also have wooden floors that look so dusty, truth is that I don't. I probably do it twice a week.

I put on at least one if not two washes a day and then tumble dry or on the line depending on the weather.

Ironing once a week although should do it more.

Bathrooms every couple of days.

Kitchen a million times a day - can't stand a dirty kitchen. Also my kitchen cupboards show finger prints, so have to do the doors daily too.

I only make our bed, dc's are old enough to do their own imo (7,8 & 11).

Dusting - a couple of times a week.

Should do more, but I don't. DH is very hands on in a non critical way.

we have a cleaner for 3 hours a week.

Daily I make beds, empty and load dishwasher, put a wash load on, brush kitchen floor, wipe down surfaces, tidy up toys.

Every other day vacuum plus give toilets a wipe and chnage the bins. Change beds once a week. Wash sofa covers once a fortnight.

Cleaner wipes doors/skrting boards/cleans bathrooms/ovens/inside of fridge. I would have a cleaner just to keep the bathrooms clean alone.

The problem in our house is mess and clutter, paperwork hanging around everywhere. Dh never throws anything away and just leaves devastation in his wake. also we have growing piles of clothes everywhere that dd and ds have grown out of that i keep meaning to give to freinds/take to charity etc etc. As we know we're stopping at 2 the constant throughput of clothes never seems to end esp ds (7 months) boys clothes.

I cannot face the morning without a clear bench. Therefore the dishes must be done at the end of the day. Anything else is negotiable.

Don't do any ironing unless absolutely essential e.g. for work. However am awre my dcs look like scruffy urchins and dd has actually started asking for stuff to "not have lines in them mummy". As I still have no intention of spending my evenings doing this I'm thinking of paying someone. If anyone knows any good ironing person in south manc can they let me know!

Do people really Hoover or clean the floors every day, why? I think some people have been indoctrinated into thinking a tidy house is essential. I do as
little as possible and that is never going to change, life's too short.

Daily/first thing:

make beds,
empty bins upstairs (night nappies!),
laundry as required,
straighten kitchen i.e surfaces, sweep floor,
put hoover round downstairs as we have two dogs so need to keep on top of hair.

Weekly

dust/polish
properly clean kitchen and bathroom
hoover whole house
mop floors
sweep stairs

Sometimes hoover upstairs during week if needed and whip round bathroom mid-week if DP is back. Will try to have one 'project' each week i.e clean out fridge/clean oven etc just to keep on top of the shite jobs!

Takes about an hour in the morning but only as I have very young DD. Weekly clean takes a couple of hours. Im quite fussy about certain things so like to keep on top of it.

When I just had DS it was actually harder to get things done because he was a clingy whiney child who I couln't even leave for 2 seconds to pee. I managed to clean by sheer determination and gritting my teeth to his crying. Harsh maybe but as it was 1 hour or so of my whole day (he fed day and night) I felt he could handle that long without my full attention.

When dd came along it became easier (in some ways) as they entertain each other while I get on with things. The both get in my way and make mess help with things like dusting, washing chairs, drying the sink, (I am so very anal )etc or as CYTEEN mentioned they destroy the room I just tidied while I move on to the next.

Ah the fun never ends

I work PT (every morning) and I like to have my house tidy, and also reasonably clean as well obviously. But I don't do anywhere near what the OP does. Infact now feel very lazy.

laundry: approx 3-4 loads a week; DH does the ironing at a weekend

Vacuum: done 2-3 times a week for living room; once a week for rest unless a real need somewhere

Kitchen: floor wiped over every other day or more if required; hob and surfaces wiped over after each meal

Bathrooms: floors wiped a couple of times a week, wipe over sink and loo most days, use shower screen spray daily, proper clean weekly

Windows: outside done by window cleaner once every 2-3 weeks; inside done by me once every couple of months

Tidying: daily; like it tody before DH gets home from work and before bed; 8y DD in charge of her bedroom and playroom tidyness (she is naturally tidy)

Bed covers: done very fortnight ideally

Shopping: done online once a week; delivered Monday lunch. I will collect odd bits during the week

Cooking: I cook and generally have a meal ready for us all when DH gets in from work. DH will clear away and sort dishewasher.

Oh, and it pretty much all fits into the two hours I have between getting home and going to get DD from school. I refuse to do housework in an evening unless there is a special reason, and we do about a couple of hours between max over the weekend, unles we have visitors coming/been.

Anything I have missed?

My mum subscribes to the idea that dull people have clean houses, growing up I hated it, hated bringing friends back, hated having to wear the same shirt/skirt etc for school for the best part of a week. So I didn't want that for my dc.

Daily, we make beds, wash dishes after every meal, hoover living room, and sweep through downstairs at the end of each day.
Twice a week I dust, clean bathrooms, clean kitchen thoroughly and mop all hard floors. Weekly I do bedsheets, hoover through whole house blah blah. Toys get cleared up and tidy round every evening.

Laundry I keep on top of, takes five minutes every day or so.

Our house is clean, tidy and organised despite being chock full of books and random stuff.

Me and dh recently went away leaving the kids with my mum at home and between that and uni work I didn't keep on top of the house and it made me feel awful! I don't feel guilty, but I do know I like my space to be tidy, so I get annoyed and antsy at the thought of the coming big clean so I'd rather keep on top of it daily rather than let it all build up and become some insurmountable huge task.

We have plenty of time to relax, play with dc, who incidentally get plenty of hugs.
All the people I know with messy houses are unhappy with it, including my mum despite her snippy commments about dull women

Moosemama, thanks, that's very helpful. I do all the jumping around singing malarkey, but sometimes that only buys me 5 minutes, so it's easier to not bother til the evening.

I really need to get her to nap without being in physical contact with me,that would solve the whole problem.

Tortoise, see I have to admit to cheating with nap times. Dd is a dinky one and still sleeps in her Graco swing. She doesn't tend to swing in it anymore but the vibrating seat seems to knock her out. Its been a real asset, worth every penny. Lord knows what I'll do when she finally outgrows it!

By the way, I completely jinxed myself by saying I have a calm cooperative baby this morning. She has been a nightmare all day today. Finally gave in and took her for a walk in the sunshine and a go on the swings before we collected her brothers and she is currently occupied putting a pile of Tesco vouchers in and out of an envelope. My house is anything but clean and tidy today!

Can't quite get my head round people who say they hoover every day. I got really miffed earlier this week as I hoovered on Monday, then DS dropped bits of rusk all round the room, so I had to hoover again the next day! Normally it's once a week or so.

I think it depends on your household though. I have 3 hairy mutts in my house and while they aren't allowed in the living room, their fur gets attached to slippers, socks and bare feet and walked all over the place, so I have to vacuum every day (sometimes more) or we'd be ankle deep in the stuff. (Why did nobody warn me how much shaggy lurchers shed? )

When we had wooden floors and no children at my previous house, we just used to quickly run round with a broom after work every day and mop every other day and that was enough. The combination of children, dogs and a tiny house definitely makes for a lot more work.

Thinking back, it was much easier to keep the house clean and tidy when we both worked full time and had no children.

At the moment I actually find it easier to clean than before DS was born. I'm at home with him two days a week so get lots of random bits of tidying and wiping done with him following me round the house, and he adores the hoover. Sometimes I hoover more to distract him and stop him being upset over not being allowed a biscuit or some such, than to actually clean up stuff!

When DH is home I'm much less motivated to get up and do stuff, it's easier to laze on the sofa or just read to DS.

moosemama, it's not cheating! I've never put any effort into helping mine learn to nap properly, and so she just won't nap on her own. The only time she does is if she falls asleep in the car on the way home and then I can leave her in the car to finish her nap while I get stuff done. But she will not nap in the cot, or on a floor cushion.

(Private carport out of sight of the road and secure, car doors open, can see and hear her at all times)

Oh god you've all made me feel like i need to clean my hole of a house!

I hate hate hate housework and admit to tip toeing around all the mess on my bedroom floor to get to my (unmade) bed!

I wish i cared more....actually no, i just wish my other half had got me a cleaner for xmas like i asked for

Are the people who clean their ceilings looking for the fairies up there to come and take them away???

Reading this thread is making me feel filthy.